Pride and the need for community

“A lot of Christians have the idea that it’s just me and God. I pray and I worship and I surrender and follow His Word and I believe in the Holy Spirit… That’s what we call the ‘vertical Christian.’ They can relate very well to God.”

Dr. John Townsend explains that this thinking may appear to be selfless, but is built on a foundation of pride. When we think we don’t need help or wisdom from others, what we are saying is ‘Other people need me, but I’m too good to need them.’

This kind of thinking is faulty on a theological and scientific level.

“The neuroscience backs up what the Bible has been saying for thousands of years. We were meant to be in a community where we meet their needs and they meet our needs.”

We are created to seek intimacy with God, seek intimacy with other people, and be vulnerable.

“We need to need each other just like we need to need God. That’s community.”

We need community, Grace comes directly from God, but we also stewards of His grace.

“If we’re the stewards of His grace that means that people are the delivery system of grace to each other. So it’s not just ‘get the goodies from God, and then go help everybody else.’”

If we keep ourselves in a position of only giving to others, we separate ourselves from the very source of grace we claim to pursue. If God uses other people to bless us, we need to lean on them to experience grace from Him.

There is a balance between leaning on others and becoming dependent on them. How do we find a balance?

The key in life is to be vulnerable while taking responsibility for yourself. Meditate on this phrase to keep your mind away from pride:

“My life is my problem. Success in life, my failures in life, that’s my problem. I’m going to want to have a lot of support and help, and prayers and wisdom from my friends and God. But my life is really my problem.”

Doing that, according to Dr. Townsend, will make us extremely successful and cultivate a sense of personal ownership in our choices.